Bellows seal



J. B. JENKINS BELLOWS SEAL March 8, 1949.

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 31, 1945 vN w u Ns, w F MN u\ NIH Kmlllll. -MAW llw IIIW V IIL E Sm HN D /V// /r u INN MN n Patented Mar. 8, 1949 BELLOWS SEAL John B. Jenkins, Rockford, Ill., assignor to Twin Disc Clutch Company, Racine, Wis., a corporation o! Wisconsin Application October 31, 1945, Serial No. 625,848

Claims.

My invention relates to bellows seal and more particularly to an improved method of attaching the bellows member to the end pieces of the seal.

In seals of this type, a characteristic arrangement comprises a bellows Whose opposite ends are secured to a carrier ring which is ordinarily xedly connected to one of the parts being sealed, and to a, packing ring which yieldingly and sealingly contacts a, mating ring supported by another part being sealed. Generally, the ends of the bellows are soldered to the carrier and packing rings and where the seal is exposed to a temperature higher than can be withstood by the low melting point, lead and tin solders, it is necessary to employ the so-called high melting point solders. The use of the latter solders, however, creates new difficulties, because not only are they more difficult to work, but the high temperature of soldering sets up stresses in the packing ring, whether hardened before or after soldering, which affects the smooth, sealing surface of the packing ring and prevents it from satisfac- `torily performing its primary function.

It is therefore one object of my invention to provide a bellows seal in which the ends of the bellows are fixed in relation to the carrier and packing rings by means of elastic members, such as rubber rings.

A further object is to provide a bellows seal of the character indicated for use under conditions in which the pressure external of the bellows is higher than the pressure within the bellows, and in which the external pressure maintains sealing contact between the elastic members and the bellows and packing and carrier rings, respectively.

These and further objects of the invention Will be set forth n the following specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and the novel means by which said obiects are effectuated will be definitely pointed out in the 2 driven or output shaft which is splinedly connected to the sleeve hub II of a turbine member I2 of the converter. The hub Il is journaled in a bearing I3 carried by the converter housing I4 and secured to an inner face of the housing is a carrier ring I5 which encircles the hub. Annularly recessed in the external surface of the turbine l2 adjacent the hub is a cushion ring I8 and iloatingly mounted thereon in encircling relation to the hub is a mating ring I1 having a ground face I8 that is opposed to and spaced from the carrier ring I5, the mating ring being transversely backed by the cushion ring I6 with clearance between the turbine and the peripheral and inner faces of the ring I1, as indicated by the numerals I9--I9. The mating ring is preferably molded from carbon or a similar material that is capable of being ground to a smooth surface and will wear evenly without pitting.

Disposed between the carrier ring I5 and the mating ring I'I is the improved bellows seal, generally indicated by the numeral 20, which encircles the sleeve hub I I in spaced relation thereto. It will be understood that a similar seal may be employed between the housing I4 and the pump or impeller member (not shown) of the converter. The `seal 20 is more particularly shown in Fig. 2 to which reference will now be made.

One side of a packing ring 2| is provided with an annular face 22 Whch sealingly contacts the face I8, while the opposite side is counterbored at 23 to receive a rubber ring 24 whose peripheral surface 25 and a side surface 26 closely t and ebut, respectivey, the surfaces of the counterbore. The othersside surface 21 of the ring 24 abuts a transverse portion 28er one end fold of a cylindrical bellows 29, while the adjacent, annular, end lip 30 of the bellows is angulariy disposed to the portion 28 and conforms to the inner surface 3I of the ring 24. In cross sectional outline, thereof, the ring 24 is generally V- shaped.

The bellows 29 may possess as many folds as operating conditions may require, but, in any case, at the opposite end fold, a transverse portion 32 and lip 33 partially embrace a rubber ring 34 that is seated in and closely fits a counterbore 35 provided in the carrier ring I5. The relation between the portion 32, lip 33 and 4ring 34 is identical with that existing between the portion 28, lip 30 and ring 24, and the rings 24 and 34 are also identical, but reversed in position as shown in Fig. 1.

Since the rubber rings 24 and 34 are not bonded to the bellows 28 and the carrier and packing' rings I5 and 2|, respectively, the effectiveness of i the pressure externally of the bellows 29 is theA hydraulic pressure within the converter, while ythe pressure within the bellows is that of the atmosphere.

It has been determined experimentally that the converter hydraulic pressure on the bellows 29 is effective at about the mean diameter between the inside and outside bends of the bellows folds and this pressure line is indicated by the numeral 36 in Fig. 2. In the strictest sense, the annular center of pressure on the webs of the bellows folds lies slightly outward of the mean diameter of these folds, but utilization of the mean diameter factor for simplified calculations in seals of this type is sumciently accurate for all practical purposes. This factor is utilized in conjuction with the well known action of a partially enclosed mass of rubber when exposed to a pressure to accomplish the desired result.

As shown in Fig. 2, the rubber rings 24 and 34 extend beyond the opposed faces of the packing and carrier rings 2| and I 5, respectively/,to thereby expose limited portions of the former rings to Y y posed folds and having' annular lips extending the hydraulic pressure in the space between the latter rings. Since the rings 24 and 34 are almost completely enclosed, they obey Pascals law and transmit the hydraulic pressure applied to thel exposed, limited portions of the rings undiminished in all directions and normal to the enclosing surfaces, thus causing the rubber rings 24 and 34 to sealingly contact the surfaces of the respec-I tive counterbores 23 and 35. To provide proper balance, it is important that the surface contacts. of the rings 24 and 34 with the counterbores 23 and 35. respectively, do not extend inwardly of the cylindrical pressure boundary' as represented.

, by the line 36. This contact limit may coincide with the line 36, as shown in Fig. 2, or may be disposed outwardly thereof so as to insure that the pressure externally of the bellows will rmy and sealingly contact the rings 24 and 34 with the defining surfaces of their respective counterbores.

In assembling the seal, the rubber rings 24 and 34 are stretched to clear the extremities of the lips 30 and 33' and are seated to elasticallv grip these lips and abut the transverse portions 28 and 32, all respectively, as shown in Fig. 2. The rings 24 and 34 are then hand pressed into the counterbores 23 and 35, respectively, and thereafter, regardless ofthe converter pressure and due to the inherent characteristics of the arrangement, the several parts maintain their relative positions and sealingly contain the external pressure. I

Where the bellows 29 is composed of brass or a copper alloy, the bellows acquires a permanent set and in order to maintain the packing ring 2| in sealing contact with the mating ring Il, the packing ring is constantly urged by a plurality of helical springs 31, each of which has one end seated in a pocket 38 provided in the carrier ring l5 and the opposite end abutting the packing ring. It is contemplated, however, that the bellows 29 may be made of stainless steel and may therefore be characterized by sufilcient resiliency vto eliminate the springs.

In Fig. 3 is illustrated a variation wherein the numerals 39, 4l! and 4| designate, respectively, a packing ring, a carrier ring and a bellows corresponding to the similar parts of the seal shown in Fig. 2. The annular lips 42 and 43 at the opposite ends of the bellows .4i are positioned to substantially coincide with Athe cylindrical pressure boundary diagrammatically indicated by the line 44. Where the folds of the .bellows are sym- .l

metrically arranged, this line coincides with the median line between the outer and inner ends of the folds and the same condition holds vtrue for the seal shown in Fig. 2. g i

A rubber ring 45, corresponding to the ring 24, grippingly encircles the lip 42 and is' seated in a counterbore 46 in the packing ring 39, while a rubber ring 4], corresponding to the ring 34, grippingly encircles the lip 43 and is seated in a counterbore 48 in the carrier ring 40. This construction places the rings and 41 outwardly ol the line 44 and the seal therefore functions in the same manner-as that shown in Fig. 2. Further. the modification provides a simpler shape for the ends of the bellows andreduces the area contact of the bellows with the rubber rings. Springs may be employed in this design in the same manner as that illustrated in Fig. 2.

I claim:

1. A cylindrical type seal for retaining a pressure externally of the seal that is higher than the pressure internally of the seal comprising a cylindrical bellows composed of a plurality of juxtafrom the opposite ends thereof, a packing ring and a carrier ring adjacent opposite ends of the bellows, respectively. and an elastic ring encircling each lip in contact therewith and seated 40 in counterbores provided in the packing and carrier rings, respectively, 'the contacts of the elastic rings with the counterbores not extending inwardly of the effective, cylindrical pressure boundary of the bellows.

2. A cylindrical type seal for retaining a pressure externally of the seal that is higher than the pressure internally of the seal comprising a cylindrical bellows composedof a plurality of juxtaposed folds and having annular lips extending from the opposite ends thereof, a packing ring and a carrier ring adjacent opposite ends of the bellows, respectively, and a rubber ring encircling each lip in contact therewith 'and seated in counterbores provided in the packing and carrier rings, respectively, the contacts of the rubber rings with the counterbores not extending inwardly of the' effective, cylindrical pressur boundary of the bellows. 3. A cylindrical type seal for retaining a pressure externally of the seal that is higher than the pressure internally of the seal comprising a cylindrical bellows composed of a plurality of juxtaposed folds and having annular lips extending from the opposite ends thereof, a packing ring and a carrier ring adjacent opposite ends of the bellows, respectively, and an elastic ringencircling each lip in contact therewith and seated in counterbores provided in the packing and car rier rings,4 respectively, the contacts of the elas-y tic rings with the counterbores not extending inwardly of the effective, cylindrical pressure boundary of the bellows and the annular lips being located to coincide with the pressure boundary.

4. A cylindrical type seal for retaining a pressure externally of the seal that is higher than ing from the opposite ends thereof, a packing ring and a carrier ring adiacent opposite ends of the bellows, respectively. and an elastic ring encircling each lip in contact therewith and an adjacent web oi the bellows and seated in counterbores provided in the packing and carrier rings, respectively, the contacts of the elastic rings with the counterbores not extending inwardly kof the eilective, cylindrical pressure boundary of the bellows and each elastic ring having a limited portion exposed to the pressure external of the bellows and the remainder enclosed by the associated counterbore. lip and web.

5. A cylindrical type seal for retaining a pressure externally o! the seal that is higher than the pressure internally of the seal comprising a cylindrical bellows composed ot a plurality of iuxta posed :olds and having annular lips extending 6 from the opposite ends thereof, a packing ring and avcarrier ring adjacent opposite ends o! the bellows, respectively. and a rubber ring encircling and zrillpins each lip in contact therewith and seated in counterbores provided in the packing and carrier rings. respectively, the contacts of the rubber rings with the counterbores not extending inwardiy oi' the effective, cylindrical pressure boundary of the bellows.

JOHN B. JENKINS. V

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the ille of this patent: 

